Attendance at county master plan meetings good

Attendance and participation were good at meetings held in October and November to gather public input on the county’s Master Plan.

By Shawna Jankoviakshawna@cheboygantribune.com

Attendance and participation were good at meetings held in October and November to gather public input on the county’s Master Plan.According to Community Development Director Steve Schnell, nearly 150 people attended at least one of the nine meetings that were held throughout the county.“We were able to educate a lot of the township officials about what we are doing and how the process works,” Schnell said. “I think some people realized they have more say in their neighborhood than they thought they did. There weren’t any major changes that came out of the meetings, but there were some small changes.”The Master Plan is a document which describes the goals and objectives for how land is used in the county. The goals are set based on what people will want the county to look like in 20 years. The zoning ordinance, which is the law that regulates land use, is built around these goals in the Master Plan. Schnell has said the end result is that the laws will get changed to make sure the goals are met.“For instance, if a township wants commercial businesses at a major intersection, then the map would be color coded to show this,” Schnell explained. “This is important because any future changes to the land use laws (zoning ordinance) for that area will refer back to this Master Plan and the ‘Future Land Use’ map and would have to be consistent with it.”The Future Land Use map shows various categories of land use throughout the county such as commercial, residential, industrial and more. It shows where, over the next 20 years, each of these land use types should be located.During the meetings, the public was able to view large copies of the draft Future Land Use map and heard an explanation of the process of reviewing the map. Then it was to be edited as needed, he added.“This is an important part of the process,” Schnell said. “The Planning Commission’s job following this review is to integrate the comments and provide a consistent land use plan for the whole county. For this reason, not all changes suggested will make the final product, but an integrated and appropriate plan is the goal.”Schnell said there were 10 or 12 properties that were moved into a more appropriate future land use category as a result of public input.He said that many attendees had additional considerations after the meetings took place and contacted the Planning and Zoning Department with further input. As a result, Schnell said a few more public meetings will take place in January and February so citizens will have another chance to have those conversations publicly.“We will have a meeting for the bottom third of the county, a meeting for the middle third and a middle for the top third,” Schnell said. “We will probably have two in January and one in February. We will notify all the township leaders and advertise it in the paper so the public can tell us any further thoughts.”Schnell said there will still be a meeting with Burt Township and Mackinaw City/Mackinaw Township before every entity in the county has had individual chances to comment.Schnell noted that the draft Future Land Use map and draft community goals and objectives are always available for public review. Anyone who can’t attend a meeting can provide their thoughts along with their name and contact information via e-mail to or by phone at 231-627-8485 or by mail to Cheboygan County Planning Commission, P.O. Box 70, 870 S. Main St., Cheboygan, MI, 49713. Also, at any time, input can be provided to the Planning and Zoning office including via e-mail at . Call the office for more information.At the Cheboygan County Planning Commission meeting to take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 19, the panel will further refine its goals and objectives in the Master Plan.

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